Mors Viri (Death Of Man) Snippet
by SwallowTheSun
Summary: This is just a snippet of the first chapter of my first story. It's purpose is to get me accustomed to FanFiction and for you readers to constructively criticise me. Pokeshipping, some Negaishipping, others included. Rated M for implied violence(cannot stress this enough... please inform me if it is too much) and beloved Character death.


**Hello all, this is a part of the first chapter of my first story. I need to get used to how Fanfic works and I also need some constructive feedback on my story.**

**Just a bit of background of this story. Ash started his journey at 13, followed the Anime journeys but after Unova he decided to redo Sinnoh, again with Brock and Dawn, competing in the Lily of the Valley Conference and raaching the finals, which is where this story starts. Ash is now 20, Misty 21, Brock 26, May 20, Dawn 18, Iris 20.**

**Also Pokemon will have amazing healing potential in this story, a severed arm could regrow in a couple of days, so don't be too alarmed by seemingly grievously injured Pokemon. I will make it clear if a Pokemon has suffered any mortal wounds.  
**

**I feel I must confess that i have not actually watched beyond the Orange Archipelago, so nearly all interpretations of all characters not featured in Kanto and Orange will be based off the many stories i have read here. I apologise for any incorrect assumptions which I may have assumed as fact from other stories.**

**This is not complete hence its abrupt ending. The story is violent and gruesome; the first scene is a torture scene and there will be a lot of beloved character death. I am unsure whether i will write any lemons in this. That will be up to you. But there will be many sexual jokes and such. **

**Please read and constructively criticize, is the violence too much? Is the story too uneven and disorganized? Comment on problems you find. Thank you.**

** Flames will be ignored.**

**I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

The blade dripped black and yet Death didn't drip with it, the mess of bloodspots on the floor was growing ever larger and more complete as the victim screamed and thrashed against his bonds. The wielder of the blade grinned as he felt the reverberations of his victim's screams through the steel of his knife as it skittered upon his victim's flesh as a Yanmega does upon the surface of a still pond, carving deeper and deeper and yet never inflicting any mortal wounds.

Briefly the wielder wondered how much pain a man could take before even an Alakazam couldn't keep the man alive. He smirked as he realized that _his_ Alakazam could probably keep anyone alive no matter the pain they went through; it was a prime specimen after all. He wagered that his Alakazam could ensure the victim would live through a skinning and place the flesh back upon his bones as if it were never peeled off. The wielder sneered, that idea could be put to use later, a last resort to get this man to break.

A gurgling rasp amidst the screams and moans snapped the wielder back to what he was doing. He cursed and wrenched the knife free of the deep puncture wound he had accidentally inflicted while lost in his thoughts. He turned to Alakazam and gestured to the wound, Alakazam nodded and crossed his spoons, his eyes began to glow an ethereal blue as his mind utilized the thousands of IQ he had to warp the fabric of reality and perform the move known as 'Recover'. The victim's entire body was suddenly surrounded in that same ethereal blue and he gasped as his body began to convulse. The convulsions stopped almost immediately and instead his body began to quiver. All his wounds began to slowly close up living only pink scars until they too began to turn white and then fade away.

The wielder smiled; 'Recover' was a fascinating move, the user of the move delved deep into the body of the receiver and copied the structure and formula of the receiver's white blood cells, once the data of the cells had been memorized, the user then began to replicate the blood cells radically and then spread the cells to all the sites of infliction on the body. All the replicated blood cells were suspended in that ethereal blue aura so that when the process was complete and the aura had faded away, the blood cells within faded away as well so as not cause a huge chemical imbalance in the receiver's body.

The wielder grimaced; he had seen that once. When his Alakazam was just a Kadabra and it tried to heal another of his Pokémon, it had failed to successfully dispel the healing aura. The Pokémon's white blood cells malfunctioned and began to attack every other cell in the body. The wielder had decided to put it out its misery when its flesh began to dissolve.

When Alakazam was done, the victim's flesh looked like that of a newborn, any scars or blemishes prior to the torturing also having been healed. The wielder wiped his blade clean with disinfectant-covered cloth as he looked upon his victim. He smiled as he heard the whimpering and ragged breaths; 'Recover' only healed any physical trauma inflicted upon the receiver, any emotional trauma the receiver had experienced was there to stay.

The wielder moved closer, blade in hand, as he once again attempted to interrogate his victim, "Come, come, Mr. Ketchum, you must ask yourself if all this pain is really worth these secrets. After all, you haven't seen your wife in at least 20 years and you haven't even met your son, they probably don't care about you anymore, so why should you care about them? I don't even care about your wife, all I want is your son and you've never even met him so you should have no emotional connection with him at all. So tell me, where is Ash Ketchum?"

Although the victim's hands were bound tightly to his side he managed to gesture the wielder to come closer. The wielder grinned and leaned to hear the victim's whisper. The victim managed to groan out his words, "Why don't you take one of those lovely spoons of your Alakazam and then proceed to go fuck yourself with it." The wielder's grin only intensified and as he turned to Alakazam, he spoke rather gleefully, "You'll soon be repenting those words Mr. Ketchum," and then to Alakazam, "Fetch Kabutops, but conserve your psychic energy, you're going to need it all to keep Mr. Ketchum alive."

The wielder turned back to his victim, "I would say that I had been hoping it wouldn't come to this, but I would be lying. The truth is I have been looking forward to this for a very long time Mr. Ketchum. You never did speak much anyway, so you don't really need a tongue do you? Alakazam can pry the secrets from your head when you are ready to tell us what we want to know, so I don't really need your tongue either. And if removing your tongue doesn't loosen it," The wielder paused and chuckled a little at his unintentional pun, "You needn't worry; Kabutops has plenty of ways to make you talk Mr. Ketchum. I've seen him eviscerate a man in the space of two seconds, I'm not sure that he actually even felt it at first, but after a few seconds his facial expression cracked me up!"

The wielder paused to lose himself in memories of excessive violence as his psychopathic mind delighted at them. "You should know though, you'll never meet Death, after all he is an old acquaintance of mine and I know how to avoid him nearly as well as I know how to introduce him to whom I wish. When you are ready to be cooperative project your thoughts to Alakazam, the torturing will cease immediately."

The victim shuddered and whimpered as the wielder began to chuckle ominously at the sight of Alakazam returning with an accomplice; a bipedal crustacean whose wicked claws clacked against the cold steel floor, it had a dark brown exoskeleton that covered its head and extended down his back, where it jutted out in a mess of spikes and ridges. Its chest was covered in hard pectoral bones, which extended down to cover its abdominal region as well. But what was most frightening about the creature was that instead of hands, the creature had vicious looking scythes that shone through countless years of honing and polishing, those blades could most likely slice through the hard exterior of a Steelix like a hot knife through butter, never mind the soft flesh of a human.

The wielder greeted the new arrival with barely contained glee, "Kabutops, don't go easy on him, Alakazam will ensure that he survives and will stop you when he hears a result." The wielder turned away and began heading towards the exit as he saw the creature's blades descending, the muffled screams had already started before he had taken his second step and as he approached the door, his grin only grew.

* * *

The crowd was roaring with anticipation and the ground was trembling slightly under the immense weight of all the spectators moving about in excitement. The cheers of the crowd washed over him and caused his skin to prickle with the familiar sensation of goose bumps. Paul opened his eyes and smirked; this is what he lived for, to feel the might of his fans behind him as he crushed his opponents into the ground with his superior Pokémon team. He was particularly excited as not only had he made it to the finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference, but his opponent was none other than his rival, Ash Ketchum, a man he had come to respect almost as much as he despised. He admitted that Ash's way of training seemed to produce some very admirable results, but Paul was determined to show Ash that power should come first when training Pokémon, and what better way to prove that than defeating him in front of several thousand people?

Paul assumed his usual apathetic expression as he strode forth under the gaze of his many fans to the center of the stadium, where Ash Ketchum awaited. Paul grimaced as he heard Dawn's shrill screams piercing through the cacophony as she cheered for Ash; even amidst a crowd of several thousand people Troublesome managed to somehow make herself heard. He thought he could see Ketchum's other friend, the horny one, smiling proudly at Ash with his arms crossed. Paul scoffed and then focused his attention on his opponent.

Ketchum stood with his arms crossed, unsmiling and unwavering. Paul frowned; considering that he himself could barely contain his excitement and that Ketchum seemed to have a penchant for immature displays of excitement, Paul would have thought that Ketchum would literally be bouncing up and down. Mentally shrugging Paul decided to ignore Ketchum's stance and as he reached the centre of the stadium, he stretched out his hand and greeted his opponent. "Good luck Ketchum, may the better trainer win." Ash stared down at Paul's hand with barely concealed contempt before raising his eyes back to Paul's face and speaking, "This isn't about winning anymore O'Connell, prepare for the end."

Brock frowned; what the hell was that? He saw the confrontation and although he couldn't hear the words exchanged, it was clear that Ash had said something that disturbed Paul. Dawn also noticed it and turned to Brock. "What was that Brock? What's wrong with Ash?" Brock shook his head and replied. "I'm not sure Dawn." Then, deciding to comfort Dawn. "But I'm sure everything's fine, Ash is probably just feeling a bit nervous, Mew knows I would be acting strange in his position." Dawn smiled and agreed. "Yeah that must be it, he's come too far to lose now, the pressure he must feeling would be too much for me to handle." Brock smiled at Dawn's optimism, but inwardly frowned; his gut was telling him that something was wrong… very wrong.

Paul narrowed his eyes with shock and confusion, there was definitely something wrong with Ketchum. Since when was Pokémon battling not about winning? And since when did Ketchum go about referring to people by their surname? And what was this about the 'end'? Sure battling your rival in the finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference was a pretty epic occurrence but it could hardly be compared to a battle to the death, a prospect that Ash seemed to refer to by speaking about the 'end', also, rival or no, Ketchum didn't strike Paul as the kind of man to blatantly ignore a friendly interaction such as a handshake.

Paul, still frowning in confusion, hastily turned around and walked back to his podium at a rather uneven pace as he tried to grasp what was up with Ketchum. Although almost definitively overreacting, his thoughts had begun to dangle on the edge between common sense and indescribable dread; he had the terrible feeling that something bad was about to happen. He turned around to see that Ash had already reached his podium and that the referee was about to begin the battle. The referee stepped forward and gestured all around to quiet the crowd down. It took a while but finally the deafening cheers began to die down.

Eventually a state of absolute silence was reached, so piercing that one could probably hear a Ninjask's wings humming softly were there one present. The referee took a deep breath and then began to shout, his microphone amplifying his voice so that it echoed around the entire stadium. "This is a 6 on 6 Pokémon battle between Paul O'Connell of Veilstone City and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, the victor of which will take home the Lily of the Valley trophy and be given the chance to face the Sinnoh Elite Four and finally the Regional Champion, Cynthia!" The crowd erupted in cacophony, screaming and cheering in pure excitement and joy as the prospect of a Pokémon battle of epic proportions beginning just a few seconds away filled their minds. "Now! Trainers… CHOOSE YOUR FIRST POKEMON!"

Paul picked a PokéBall from his belt and proceeded to toss it out onto the open field, "Aggron! Deliver unto my foes your relentless carnage!" The referee, and a few others in the crowd, winced slightly at Paul's introduction but Paul didn't really care all that much, he had always been a bit of an absolutist.

Back in the stands Dawn was openly laughing and even Brock had traces of mirth around his smile. Dawn turned to Brock and said "Haha! What a ridiculous way to introduce a Pokémon eh Brock?" Brock replied with a large smile, however it was quickly wiped off his face when he glanced at Ash… What the hell was he doing?!

A huge bipedal figure appeared on the field and roared thunderously as it stamped its steel-clad claws into the ground, making it quake tremendously. Primarily black and grey, it had a huge girth and a long, thick black tail. Upon its head appeared to be a steel skull resembling that of some prehistoric carnivore, with two lethal looking horns protruding directly above its piercing blue eyes.

Paul and his Iron Armour Pokémon Aggron proceeded to stare ahead at whatever Pokémon their rival had chosen for the first round, but to their shock they found not one, but three Pokémon staring straight back. In the center was Ketchum's most famous Pokémon, a small yellow mouse with long black-tipped pointy ears. Two red spots were present on the mouse's cheeks while its tail was shaped like that of childish depiction of a thunderbolt, its root the same dark brown as the horizontal stripes that ran down his back. To the left of Pikachu was a floating ore of obsidian with two horns protruding from amidst the exoskeleton of ice that surrounded its body and framed its piercing blue eyes and flat teeth. Whilst to the right of Pikachu was a large butterfly, its snout the same colour as its pale blue legs and paws. It had large black-veined white wings and huge red compound eyes that watched everything on the battlefield simultaneously.

The crowd cried in outrage, prompting the referee to move forward and call out, "Trainer Ketchum! This is a single Pokémon battle! Choose one Pokémon and recall the others now or you will be disqualified from the match!" Ash ignored the referee and stared unflinchingly at Paul, then he began to shout out commands to his team: "Butterfree, use Stun Spore and then use Gust to spread it all around the stadium. Glalie! Use Double Team and begin orbiting Pikachu, then use Gyro Ball but don't target anything! Pikachu use Light Screen; don't let Butterfree's spores paralyze you or Glalie!"

Paul watched helplessly and with shock as golden spores began to pour out of Butterfree's pores to form a thick cloud around the butterfly. Then Butterfree's wings flapped forward and sent the cloud rushing throughout the stadium. The spores entered through all of Paul's orifices and his body immediately sensed an overload of foreign particles. In panic his brain sent electrical impulses down his spine as it tried to urgently relay the message to his immune system to destroy the spores. However the relentless wave of electrical impulses, its power amplified by the spores, only caused more problems as it temporarily fried Paul's nerves and synapses, freezing him in place and effectively paralyzing him. The only organs and muscles he could use were those of his lungs, throat, nose, eyes and tongue; he could still breathe, see and talk, as was the case for everyone else in the stadium.

"Brock! What's going on! What's Ash doing?!" Brock's earlier feeling of dread returned a thousand fold as he stared at Ash. "I don't know Dawn! I've never seen Ash like this!" It was true; what he saw on Ash's face wasn't fear, it wasn't sadness, it wasn't happiness or ominous anger… it was agony…

Brock's words did little to comfort to Dawn and she began shaking in fear as frightened tears squeezed from her eyes. Around her people were reacting the same way; it seemed no one could make sense of what Ash was doing.

Meanwhile rotating around Pikachu were several glowing Glalie, its use of Gyro Ball temporarily creating a metallic aura and therefore gaining the magnetic properties of certain metals. Ash gasped, but congratulated his Pokémon; "Good work Butterfree! Come stay with me and help me get out of here when the time comes; I can't move either. Pikachu use Reverse Magnet Rise!", "Pika!" Pikachu then proceeded to slam his tail into the ground as his body became surrounded with intense sparks, absorbing the roaming electrons surrounding the multiple Glalie thus making Pikachu's skin negatively charged and the white aura of the Glalies positively charged. Due to the natural attraction between positively and negatively charged objects, the Glalies begun to slowly drift towards Pikachu until they had tightly packed Pikachu in the centre of a revolving circle.

Ash paused then and, with tears streaming down his agonized face and a broken voice, whispered, "Goodbye my old friend…" before shouting out the last commands Pikachu and Glalie would ever hear from Ash, "Pikachu, use Thunder and Glalie, use Explosion! Butterfree! Get me the hell out of here!"  
Ash squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Pikachu's last confirmation. He screamed as his mind was flooded with memories of Pikachu with him on his journey, from the day they met to this morning.

Dawn screamed in fear along with everyone else in the stadium. She was openly weeping now, trembling and emptying her bowels. Brock could only stand still in shock as the man he loved as a brother ordered genocide.

Time seemed to slow down to a standstill for Paul as he and the thousands of people around him watched on in horror while the multiple Glalies began to glow a brilliant white. He didn't realise he was crying, or that he was on his knees. He didn't hear the terrified screams around him as people desperately tried to move their limbs in order to flee the impending disaster. He didn't notice Butterfree land on a weeping Ketchum's head and use Teleport, warping his particles and tearing a hole through the fabric of reality to disappear into thin air. He also didn't see that Pikachu's Light Screen had unintentionally protected Aggron and that it had resisted the Stun Spore until it had leaped up onto the podium, gathered Paul in his arms and used Iron Defense in one last act of incredible bravery and compassion.

Brock gazed down at the small, trembling blue –haired girl next him and with indescribable pain and sorrow he decided to offer his last few words of comfort and brotherly love to her. "Dawn… Dawn listen to me… Everything is going to be fine, just close your eyes and think of the happiest time of your life. Cherish that memory and nothing can hurt y-"

The mass of white light that was Glalie and Pikachu suddenly intensified as a massive fork of lightning struck it from the now cloudy skies. The light expanded rapidly, encompassing the entire stadium and blinding everybody. Within the white light ran strong electrical currents that shocked everyone with the intensity of the lightning from the skies. Clothing was ignited and flesh was roasted, organs were liquefied and bones were shattered. And then the light exploded.

The sound of concrete shattering and bodies being ripped apart could be heard for miles in any direction. The screams were instantly silenced as incredible heat melted through what remained of flesh and bone, igniting hair and the plastic of the chairs. Several thousand lives were ended abruptly; adult, child and Pokémon alike. Nothing and only one person escaped the might of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon, for as the dust cleared, revealing a massive blackened crater where the entire stadium once stood, there lay the charred and crisp corpse of Aggron and beneath him, wrapped tightly in his arms, lay Paul O'Connell, who could only listen not to the people's cheers and screams of excitement as he felled one of Ash's Pokémon, but rather to the deathly silence of the aftermath of a massacre caused by Ash's Pokémon. Paul's mind barely registered that he was alive and that it was because his own Pokémon sacrificed his life for him, he briefly wondered whether his brother had made it to the match in time and if he had been incinerated as well before the dark clutches of unconsciousness grasped him and dragged him into the recesses of his mind.

* * *

Johanna stood quietly as she fiddled with her black dress, absentmindedly tugging at her belt buckle as she wondered what her daughter was up to; how far had she gone on her journey? Why was she wearing black of all colours? How close was Dawn to winning her first contest? Had she already won several? Despite loving Dawn dearly, she was fine with not hearing from her for a long time as she knew she was with good company; with the mature and incredibly sensible Brock looking after her and Ash, the good-natured and friendly Pokémon trainer. Ash was a very honourable man and a formidable battler, he had his morals in the right place and he was a lying, massacring psychopath. Johanna frowned; where had _that_ come from?

"Mrs… Mrs. Berlitz? I'm s-so sorry for your loss, D-Dawn didn't deserve this… No one deserved this…" Johanna snapped her head up in shock as she heard someone addressing her. There in front of her stood Kenny, his hands nervously smoothing the invisible wrinkles in his black suit and his combed auburn hair framing his face as his coal black eyes glistened with tears. "…What? What didn't Dawn deserve?" Johanna asked in honest confusion.

Kenny widened his eyes with concern and confusion as he asked Johanna, "Mrs. Berlitz, are you alright?" Johanna blinked in confusion and began to take in her surroundings. She was standing in a cemetery on an overcast day while people milled around her, also all dressed in black. She caught a few pitying and sorrowful gazes thrown in her direction and began to wonder what was going on. She glanced behind Kenny to see a closed empty casket. She paused; how would she know that the casket was empty if it was closed? Her gaze trailed up the casket and eventually reached a slab of stone situated above the casket with words etched upon its surface. She read the words with trepidation.

"Here lies Dawn Berlitz,

A loving daughter and a friend to all,

Her beautiful smile and spirit will remain forever in our hearts.

(1994-2013)

R.I.P"

With an anguished cry Johanna fell to her knees and began heaving, but nothing came up. She remembered everything; the casket was empty because all that was left of her daughter was her murderer's namesake. Dawn had inherited her loving and gentle spirit from her mother, but Johanna knew without a doubt that she wanted Ash Ketchum dead; she wanted to spit on his bones before they were grinded into oblivion by her Kangaskhan. She wanted Ash to feel the pain that Dawn had felt before her last breath.

Having finally stopped retching, she threw her head back and let loose a heart wrenching scream of absolute pain before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed in a heap in front of her daughter's empty casket.

* * *

Lola glanced worriedly out her window as she washed the dishes and what she saw was the cause for her worry. Ever since the funeral two days ago, Forrest had been training his Pokémon brutally and without rest. His Pokémon were tired and ill and could hardly find the energy to move, never mind battle, yet still Forrest commanded them to battle each other and never let up. She could feel the cold waves of anger radiating from her now eldest son that had been present since Brock's funeral.

Suddenly Rhyperior fell down, beaten and unconscious and causing his fellow teammates to stop battling as they gathered around him in concern. "What's going on? What's happening?" Forrest demanded as he tried to shove his Pokémon out of the way. When he reached the fall Drill Pokémon his eyes widened in fury and began to prod the Pokémon in order to wake it up. "Rhyperior! Get up now! Don't start slacking; only weak Pokémon slack and I don't train weak Pokémon!"

The mass of rock was unresponsive and this only served to agitate Forrest further, his prods became more solid until he began punching and pounding the Pokémon. "Get up! Get up and fight you pathetic lump of shit! Ash is out there, alive and well while you are just lying around doing nothing?! I won't let that bastard get away with this! I won't! I can't! YOU HEAR ME ASH KETCHUM! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, I WON'T LET YOU! I WON'T LET YOU!"

By now Forrest had stopped beating on Rhyperior, his hands a bloody and bruised mess cupping his face. He wept as he thought of his brother, a man he loved more than anyone, perhaps even more than his father. He thought of his brother's killer, a man Brock trusted more than anyone else in the world, even more than his own family. Ash had repaid that trust with a violent death that someone like Brock didn't deserve.

Lola dropped the bowl she was currently drying, uncaring of whether it broke or not as ran outside to her distraught son. Forrest's Pokémon were standing around him in a circle staring down at him with sad eyes when Lola reached him. Aside from his Rhyperior, his strongest Pokémon, Forrest had a full team of ruthlessly strong rock Pokémon that cared for him as deeply as any Pokémon would for a loving trainer such as Forrest. Surrounding him was his Onix (the offspring of Brock's Steelix), his Golem (the offspring of Brock's Geodude), his Tyranitar, his Omastar, and his Aerodactyl, the last two a gift from the local museum curator for earning the status as one of the toughest Gym Leaders in Kanto, behind Misty and Sabrina. Lola paid them no heed as she pushed Omastar out of the way to reach her beloved son. She fell to her knees and wrapped her son in her arms and held him tight. Forrest's Pokémon huddled around them willing their love into the heartbroken pair. It was a sad time in the household of the Harrison's as mother and son held each other and wept, mourning their fallen son and brother.

* * *

Delia Ketchum sat in silence and annoyance as the woman sitting opposite her flipped through some papers attached to the clipboard she held. Her extraordinary patience was running thin and she was about to erupt in frustration before the other woman sighed and shook her head, causing her neat pale blue hair to whip around her face. "Look Mrs. Ketchum, the sooner you tell us more about your son, the sooner you can leave. Please, is there anything, anything at all that you can think of when you last saw Ash that could've given some indication about what he was planning?"

Delia narrowed her eyes and spoke with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her youth. "I will not tell you anything about my son because he is innocent; there is no way Ash would kill all those people and two of his closest friends like that! He has the gentlest soul I have ever witnessed and I consider myself blessed that I was the one to birth and raise him. That wasn't Ash on that podium that day, that was just some devil who dared called himself my son!" With a start Delia realized she was standing, her hands placed on the metal table between the women and her face staring threateningly at the police officer.

Jenny spoke back calmly, years of training as a Police Officer had hardened her resolve, an angry mother bear was almost a daily occurrence for her. "Mrs. Ketchum the man on the podium that day had the same name as your son, the same height and weight as your son, the same appearance as your son, the same achievements as your son and the same Pokémon as your son. While I perfectly understand your reluctance to believe that your son is a mass murderer, I'm afraid the evidence is simply staggering and undeniable."

Delia stared incredulously at the Policewoman. "How on earth could you possibly know that that man had the same height and weight as Ash? You'd have to measure and weigh both him and my son to come to that conclusion." Jenny grimaced; she had not meant to say that. "Mrs. Ketchum, not many people know this, in fact this information is only known by police officers, Pokémon Centre staff, the Elite Four, the Regional Champions, the Regional Professors, the G-Men and the League Officials. Each PokéDex handed out to a trainer has a built-in-body scanner that measures and weighs the trainer, without their knowledge of course, each day and stores this information. When the device is handed to a Nurse Joy when a trainer signs up for a tournament or a contest, she transfers the latest measurements to the Centre Database, a network of information that can only be accessed by high-ranking police officers, the G-Men and of course Nurse Joy."

"Now, every podium in a stadium or a contest has a similar scanner installed in it that is activated whenever someone steps on it. It stores the measurements of whoever happens to be standing on it and then sends the info to the Centre Database where it is linked to a corresponding set of measurements. Once this link is established the information about the trainer is downloaded into the podium and confirms that the person on the podium is indeed who the Database says it is. The whole process takes but a fraction of second to complete and once it has and the trainer is confirmed, a bracelet worn by the referee begins flashing green thus signifying the referee that the right people are in the right place. A message is sent from the podium to the Database as well to inform it of the results."

Delia frowned; the Regional Professors knew of this outrageous breach of privacy? She'd had to have a few stern words with Professor Oak when she got back home. "So this Database has confirmed that that man is my son? Have you seen the results yourself?" Jenny leaned back, wide-eyed and stuttering. "I- you see… well no… I haven't seen the results yet but I am sure that my colleagues would have informed me were they not satisfactory."

Delia bristled in anger at the officer's words. "Satisfactory? Proof that my son is a mass murderer is a source of satisfaction for you people?! You sit there and tell me that my son killed several thousand people and that that fact is irrefutable despite not even knowing what your outrageous breach of privacy Database has to say about it and expect me to cooperate with you by condemning my son?! If everyone had the same thoughts as you then no one would check the fucking thing, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case since you seem to be a pretty high-ranking officer and you're a fucking incompetent! "

Delia very rarely swore, especially at others, but right now she was absolutely furious. "We're done here; go find some other mother to bother." With that Delia stood up despite the officer's protests and began to make her way around table and towards the door. However before she could open it the door swung open and was replaced by an imposing figure.

"Now now Mrs. Ketchum, there is no need for hostility." The figure smirked at Delia before he turned to the other woman present. "Officer Jenny you are dismissed, please excuse yourself." While he spoke to Jenny, Delia managed to get a good look at the man; he had bright red hair that matched the inside of his cape and the bands at his wrists and knees. The front of his outfit shared the same colour while his sleeves, trousers, boots and the outside of his cape were a pitch black colour. His impressive height and strange clothing managed to somehow strike an intimidating cut, but Delia decided instantly that she did not like this man; she was certain his eyes had been roaming up and down her body as he walked into the interrogation room.

Delia was no idiot, she knew she was a very attractive woman, especially for her age; some of Ash's more perverted and obnoxious local 'friends', if one could call them that; after all Ash rarely consorted with unsavory types, had often remarked that she was a prime MILF when they thought she couldn't hear them. Whatever that meant, she was sure they weren't talking about how good of a cook she was. Many men had checked her out and attempted to make a move on her before but despite not having seen Ash's father for almost twenty years, she was still madly and hopelessly in love with the man and therefore never returned any affections shown towards her. She could never care about another man as she did for her husband and besides, this man seemed far too full of himself for her tastes and she found him quite disgusting already.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "I know who you are sir, but this a police investigation, I don't think you have the jurisdiction to take over it yourself." The man smirked and glanced quickly at Delia, or rather, two quite large assets of Delia's that he really had no business looking at. He quickly looked away before the owner of said assets could catch him peeking; though unknown to him he was already too late.

The man turned so that his back was facing the two women and cleared his throat; it was clear that this particularly fine specimen of a woman had no clue who he was, he sought to remedy that as soon as possible. "I am Lance Wilson, Champion of the Wataru Dragon Clan, strongest of the Kanto Elite Four, Regional Champion of Johto, Investigator of the Pokémon G-Men and the most powerful Dragon Tamer alive, but you may simply call me Lance. I must say I am honored to be in the presence of such a clearly magnificent woman such yourself Delia, if I may call you such."

He turned back to witness the reaction of the women, but was mightily disappointed when he saw that Jenny still had an incredulous look on her face and that Delia was yawning with her eyes such tight and her hand over her mouth. She then began to speak. "Well Lance, you may not call me as such, now could you please explain the purpose of your being here so that I can go home and watch the latest episode of Bruno's Shortcut to Six-Packs that I recorded earlier today."

That was a joke of course, but Lance didn't know that. She just said it because she knew that Bruno and Lance were seen as the most eligible bachelors of Kanto and that Lance had publicly displayed his dislike of Bruno before; probably because he wished he was the only top eligible bachelor. Jenny barked a laugh, though she was blushing quite heavily for some reason, and threw a thumbs-up in Delia's direction, who smirked back at her.

Lance's expression fell but he it seemed that he wouldn't go down without a fight, his smirk returned and with a hint of anger in his eyes he said "Well Mrs. Ketchum, you seem remarkably lively for a woman whose son has recently committed mass-murder, are you already looking for a new man with offspring for you to bear? If so, you wouldn't want Bruno's babies, they'd probably tear you apart during labour." Both Delia and Jenny stood in shock as Lance chuckled at his own rude and rather hypocritical statement.

Jenny glanced at Delia with sympathy; that was a remarkably unprofessional jibe at her and was totally uncalled for. Jenny too had seen Lance's not so subtle leers at Delia's voluptuous body, an act which she found as disgusting as she did offensive; what was she… a wooden plank? She glanced down and sighed; she might as well be, police training wasn't exactly devised to increase the allure of a woman. Not that she was at all interested in Lance; the man quite obviously had his stupidly bright red head wedged firmly up his arse and besides, what he had just said was a horrible thing to say to an obviously faithful and diligent mother such as Delia Ketchum.

The door opened again but this time another woman strode in, Jenny jumped in shock as she realized who the new arrival was; the woman was wearing polished black high-heels that were barely visible under the formal black trouser wear and long black coat that she wore about her skintight black top, only one stony grey eye was visible and her luscious blond hair that fell all the way down to her knees covered the other eye. In her hair she wore strange black clips that somewhat resembled the ears of a Lucario.

The woman glanced sympathetically at Delia; she had obviously heard what Lance had said, and nodded her head at Jenny, who returned the nod with a stunned expression.

She then turned towards Lance, who was quite flustered as he was in the presence of now two very gorgeous women. He quickly glanced at Jenny and gave her the same treatment that he gave Delia upon entering. Make that three. The new woman glared at Lance with such ferocity that he began to worry for his safety.

He spoke. "Cynthia, I-", "Lance, just shut up, you have just jeopardized the investigation with your ignorance and obnoxiousness and quite frankly, I'm not surprised. When I get the chance I will request a meeting the rest of the Council about your permanent removal from the Council and thus the G-Men. I suspect that the odds shall not be in your favour. Now get lost." She turned to the two women. "Officer, could you please escort Lance out of the station? Bruno will be waiting for him; he will take Lance back to the Plateau. I'm sure Lance would greatly appreciate Bruno's assistance." Jenny barely contained the smirk that threatened to break out on her face as saluted the Sinnoh Champion. "Yes Ma'am, at once Ma'am." Cynthia grimaced, though her face somehow remained flawless and serene. "Please Officer, call me Cynthia, I'm not your boss and neither is Lance, so don't go easy on him if he causes any trouble. Oh and please come back when you're done, I wouldn't want to displace the officer in charge of this investigation now would I?"

Cynthia turned to Delia as Jenny, now openly smirking, began to drag the spluttering Lance out of the room. "Mrs. Ketchum, I am terribly sorry for Lance's attitude, he's always been a pain in the arse. I must apologise again as I really need to speak to you about your son. Do you mind?" Delia frowned and sighed. "Actually yes I do mind, but you seem a lot more professional than your colleague, if you can call him that, so I will help you." Cynthia smiled warmly. "Thank you Mrs. Ketchum, your cooperation means a lot to us. Please, have a seat."

Delia did so while Cynthia took the seat previously occupied by Jenny opposite of Delia. "I understand that you believe the 'Incinerator' and your son is not the same person, this is correct?" Delia raised an eyebrow at the title; the 'Incinerator'? What an incredibly stupid and insensitive name. But she supposed it was as apt as any name she could think of. Delia ignored the question and asked her own. "You have access to the Centre Database right? Could you show me the results of the podium that day? Officer Jenny hasn't checked them yet and I get the feeling that you haven't either." Cynthia stared in astonishment before glancing at the door and sighing, she began muttering. "There's a reason that the Database isn't public knowledge." She glanced up towards Delia. "I do have access but I won't let you access it. I will check and inform you of the results later today. There's simply too much private information on that Database to show to someone who is not a Nurse Joy, an Officer Jenny nor a G-Men Agent."

"Now, did your son make many friends on his journey? Was he a well-liked individual or did he keep to himself?" Delia laughed. "Ash?! Many friends?! Did you not meet the man? Who doesn't like my son?" Cynthia smiled; she had met Ash before and he had certainly left an impression on her. She blushed slightly; perhaps a bit too much of an impression, he was a very attractive man after all… and single… maybe if she were a tad younger… Cynthia shook her head; Ash was the most hated man in the world, not some boy toy to think of in her fantasies.

"Who were Ash's closest friends? Where are they now? I would like to talk to them about Ash's journey." Delia's smile faltered. "Ash's closest friend, in fact more of a brother than not, is dead. Brock Harrison, may he rest in peace, can't help you I'm afraid. The same goes for Dawn Berlitz, a nice girl from Twinleaf in your home region. They were present at the stadium that day, cheering on who they thought was their close friend." Cynthia closed her eyes and muttered a quick prayer to Arceus; the pain they must've gone through as their friend ordered their brutal death…

She composed herself. "What of Ash's other friends? Who did he grow up with? Did he have many friends in Pallet?" Delia shook her head sadly; surprisingly Ash did not have many friends in Pallet Town. "Pallet Town is what some may call a backwards and superstitious community and many of its residents don't like others prying into their business. We're a cranky lot and unfortunately cranky people don't get along with well people like my son; his natural curiosity and concern for all things living, people and Pokémon alike, rubbed them the wrong way as they saw it as an invasion of their privacy. It was an unwritten rule in Pallet that everybody minded their own business and no trouble would be caused, Ash's stretching of that rule led many of his own age, and their parents, to distrust him, and of course, Gary Oak didn't help either."

Cynthia frowned; she had met Gary Oak, he was the grandson of the prestigious Professor Oak after all, and while he was a bit flirtatious and obnoxious (a lot like Lance really, just more successful in his attempts at wooing women, though Cynthia was unaffected; he was much too young for her but then again, so was Ash…) he seemed pretty harmless and actually quite a decent guy. She couldn't imagine Gary doing anything to cause Ash to struggle to make friends in their home town.

"Gary? What did he do? He seemed nice enough when I met him." Delia smiled. "Gary is a brilliant and mature young man, I don't approve of his disregard for monogamy, but his heart's in the right place. But he wasn't always so nice. When he and Ash were growing up, Gary made Ash's life a living hell; he bullied Ash in school and ran crying to the headmaster whenever Ash retaliated. I spent far too many a day in the headmaster's office having to scold my son for something that I knew wasn't his fault, it tore me up inside every time I did it but I always made it up to him by making his favourite food that night."

Delia paused and stared off into space with a bittersweet smile on her face as she reminisced on her son's childhood. Cynthia smiled; it was obvious that Ash and his mother had a great relationship with each other and that they loved each other dearly, watching Delia reflecting on the cherished times she shared with her son was a heartwarming sight to say the least.

Delia seemed to realise she had been spacing out and shook her head before she continued speaking. "Gary broke Ash's heart more than once as well; he always told any girl he knew Ash was interested in that Ash was a freak, that he would hurt them if given the chance and they always believed him. A couple of times Gary even dated some of them and seeing his love-interests going out with his enemy was harsh on Ash and ever since, he's always lacked his usual confidence when speaking to girls, especially those he was attracted to, he earned the nickname 'Awkward Ash' because of that."

Cynthia frowned once more; Gary sounded like an awful person. "But Gary began maturing when Ash beat him in the Silver Conference; he realized Ash was a stronger trainer than him and after failing to get the attention of a certain red-head that accompanied Ash at the time, due to her interest in Ash, he also realized that Ash wasn't a loner anymore. My son had met and made so many friends on his journey that it wasn't right to call him 'Awkward Ash' anymore, though he still remained as oblivious as ever when it came to girls. The two quickly became close friends as it wasn't within my son to hold a grudge against a person; he is far too trusting and forgiving sometimes."

Cynthia took out a small notepad and pencil from somewhere in her coat and jotted down Gary's name, she then addressed Delia again. "Okay, so aside from Gary, who has known Ash the longest? What about this red-head you mentioned; she sounds close to Ash." Delia smiled softly. "Her name is Misty Waterflower and she might as well be my daughter. Never will you find a girl as sweet and as passionate as her." Cynthia blinked in surprise. "Misty Waterflower? The Cerulean Gym Leader Misty Waterflower?" After Misty had left Ash to take care of her family's Gym she quickly gained a reputation as one of the toughest Gym Leaders in Kanto, eventually she was _the _toughest Gym Leader in Kanto, stronger even than Sabrina. Cynthia had watched a few of her battles and was very impressed with her immensely strong Pokémon , she reckoned that Misty's Gyarados could probably take on one of her own Pokémon, not Garchomp or Spiritomb of course but probably any of the others.

Delia's expression fell. "Yes, but she's not doing too well at the moment; what she felt for Ash was far beyond just friendship. Recent events have been a huge shock to her and she's a bit unstable at the moment. She lost Brock, one of her closest friends, Brock might as well have been her older brother, and he was certainly more of a sibling to her than her pathetic sisters are. She believes she also lost Ash, not in the same way obviously, but I think that is what hurts her most. That someone she loved so much could do something like this has really wounded her and despite my telling her that it couldn't have been Ash, she insists that either way the Ash she knew is gone."

Cynthia, not noticing that Delia had become very quiet and that her shoulders were shaking, was confused. "What? If Ash is proven innocent then he will be free to do as he pleases, he wouldn't be gone, so why does Misty think he would be?" It was Delia's sniffling that finally caught Cynthia's attention. "Mrs. Ketchum? Are you alright?"

At this Delia's head snapped up and Cynthia was shocked at the amount of pain and sadness and even anger she saw in those eyes. "Why would Ash be gone?! You're a G-Men agent Cynthia! Surely you would know why Ash can never come back! Even if he were proven innocent how could he possibly live a normal life?! He would be a target, if not for the Government and the League, then by the common folk; Trainers, Co-ordinators, Rangers, Researchers, Watchers and Connoisseurs would all despise my son and how could they not? Besides, the Incinerator has my son! What would a man like that do to my son?! Certainly never let him go! My son is probably as good as dead! Dead Cynthia! Dead!"

As Delia broke down weeping Cynthia sat in shock; she saw now the pain that Delia had been feeling since the Incineration. She saw the pain of a loving mother whose only child had been declared a mass murder. She saw the pain of a loving mother who believed her only son was dead.

Delia, the pain of the past few days having finally caught up with her, sat in sadness and agony as her weeping died down to a pathetic whimpering. "I wish that I had at least been there with him, that he didn't have to die alone, cold and scared. I wish he was here in my arms as I listened to yet another adventure that he had experienced on one of his journeys." Delia's began to smile sadly, becoming lost in her fantasies. "I wish I could have seen the joy on his face when he watched the love of his life, Misty most probably, walk down the aisle all dressed in white. I wish I could see the excitement in his and Misty's faces as they told me that they were expecting. I wish I could share all the embarrassing stories of his childhood with his children. I wish I could smile with pride as my grandchildren told me and Ash and Misty all about the snowman they had built that morning as we all sat around the dining room table, eating stuffed turkey on that cold Christmas day. I wish that when my time came, I could go peacefully knowing that I could finally tell my husband about how our precious little baby boy had grown up to be a great man, one who had a loving family and many loving friends, who had two loving parents waiting for him up in heaven. Waiting to finally greet him and tell him how proud we were of him and how much we loved him."

Cynthia's throat ached as she wiped her tears away; never had she witnessed such powerful love before, sure she had loving parents and grandparents, but they had their own life too, they had other things to love as well as her. It sounded to her that Delia had devoted her entire life to her son; that her only reason to living was to ensure that her son got all the love and care he could get from her.

Cynthia stood up, walked around the table and pulled Delia into a fierce hug. Both women embraced each other as if they were the greatest of friends, they wept on each other's shoulder as if they had both lost a son. Delia held onto Cynthia tightly as she whispered her last wish. "Above all I wish my baby boy was home again."

* * *

Jenny groaned and rubbed her temples as Lance began to yet again, moan and whine about unfair Cynthia always was too him. Was this man really a Champion? He was pretty pathetic. The only reason she had accepted the task of escorting this bumbling idiot out of the station, besides her admiration for the Sinnoh Champion, was because of who was waiting at the pickup destination. Although she had found Mrs. Ketchum's dig at the Johto Champion very amusing, inwardly she had been blushing in extreme embarrassment because, unbeknownst to both of them, Mrs. Ketchum had described Jenny's favourite pastime that she always participated in on her few days off.

Unfortunately, because of where her mind had wandered off to, Jenny had developed a very prominent blush on her face and Lance, who had been prattling on about how the only reason Cynthia acted so untoward to him was because she was secretly harboring some kind of secret crush towards him, mistook Jenny's blush as something very different. Jenny, who had since returned to her senses, noticed Lance had a god-awful smirk on his face as he leered down at her. "You should know Jen, no matter how attracted Cynthia is to me I won't ever give in to her advances; I will always be free for you." Lance winked at her and groped her butt before his gaze once again dropped lower until her face was definitely not the part of her body that Lance was ogling. It appeared chest size was of no concern to Lance; he seemed to accept all sizes.

Jenny felt like retching, Lance truly was a disgusting pig and his opinion of himself was far too bloated. Jenny smirked; she was keen to deflate that ego of his. "Lance if there is any hotshot League trainer that I am willing to bed, it most certainly isn't you. Quite frankly you are a disgusting person and I really can't see why even the easiest woman on earth would want to sleep with you. So be a good boy and leave me alone so that Mr. Siba can take you home and tuck you into bed without any argument from me." Lance's smirk faltered briefly before returning tenfold. "Whatever babe, you know you want me, don't be so sore that you can't get me."

"Lance leave the poor lady alone, it's obvious that she wants nothing to do with you so just leave her be." Lance jumped slightly as Bruno's deep voice rang out. In his pestering of Jenny he had failed to notice that they had exited the station and were now standing in front of a beaten up old Beetle.

Bruno's voice had a very different effect on Jenny, whose knees trembled slightly and heart pumped furiously. Directly in front of her stood a mountain of a man whose immense muscles bulged under the black formal suit he wore. His face was scarred over years of the brutal training he put himself under, fighting Onixes and sparring with his own ruthlessly powerful Pokémon. He had thick black eyebrows that accentuated his angular and somewhat stern features. His long and spiky raven hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached down to the middle of his back. Seeing him not in his usual Karate outfit but rather in formal attire was a sexy sight for the young police officer to behold. Years of his workout videos could not have prepared her for how massive this man truly was; he stood at 7 feet and his arms were as thick as those of his Machamp's. He made Lance seem a child in comparison, indeed Jenny herself reached only to his chest.

Bruno turned to Jenny and began smiling gently. "Pleased to make your acquaintance Officer, Bruno Siba at your service, but please just call me Bruno. I hope Lance wasn't too much trouble for you, I'll be glad to take him off your hands either way." Jenny, as red as her hair was blue, stuttered as she attempted to form a cohesive sentence in front of her crush. "M-Mr. Siba sir, I-I mean B-Bruno… S-sir. T-the pleasure's all mine." It really was; her neighbours had often complained about the noise she made whenever she was with her boyfriend, who they thought was called Bruno, having heard his name yelled out many times. They said that they were glad she had a man that could please her so, but to please continue their activities quietly as they had kids that were trying to sleep. They didn't realise that she didn't have a boyfriend, or that the TV was on.

Jenny composed herself somewhat; she was an officer of the law, not some horny schoolgirl. "Honestly Bruno, Lance is a pain in the arse and I would love it if you could take him away." And me as well, she thought giddily. Bruno barked a laugh and his smile widened. "I like you, you're not afraid to say what you want and I agree, Lance is a pain in the arse!"

Lance spluttered in outrage as Jenny flushed a bright pink; her mind going into overdrive at the prospect of Bruno liking her. Jenny decided to risk it and ask her crush out; when was she going to get another chance? "B-bruno, I-I was w-wondering i-if you'd like to go out for some coffee sometime?" Lance began laughing uncontrollably, disheartening Jenny as she began to lose what little confidence she had scraped together in order to ask Bruno out. Lance straightened and wiped a tear from his eye. "What was that?! Is that what you call asking someone out?! That was pathetic!" Jenny, her confidence now completely shattered, decided that it would be best if she left.

"Sorry Master Siba sir, I don't want to waste anymore of your time." With traces of tears in her eyes she turned and rapidly walked away. Bruno smacked Lance on the back the head, the force of the somewhat relaxed blow sending Lance to the floor, before turning and heading after Jenny. He grabbed her hand and spun her around. "Wait! Jenny!"

Jenny reeled back in shock, a warm feeling rising up in her at hearing Bruno use her name. "I would love to go out with you, however I can't promise I would be a great boyfriend; I am one of the Elite Four after all." Jenny smiled brightly. "You'd be a great boyfriend! I can't believe that you accepted! Here's my number, I'll be sure to call you soon."

Bruno took the piece of paper with a large smile on his face; this particular Jenny was very pretty after all, not that that was at all his sole reason for accepting her invitation, she seemed to be a very spirited and strong individual and Bruno admired strength of the soul above all in people. "I'm afraid we must part ways now Jenny, someone's got to look after that bumbling idiot. But I am looking forward to our next meeting, until then."

Before Bruno could depart Jenny grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her and into a hug, surprising him with her strength. Bruno began to blush heavily as Jenny pressed her body tightly against Bruno's before grabbing his head and pulling it down to apply a soppy kiss upon his cheek. She let go, giving Bruno a coquettish smile before turning around and rushing back into the station. As Jenny reentered the station she squealed with joy, causing several people in the station to look at her strangely. She didn't care; she had the feeling that the neighbour's kids wouldn't get much sleep tonight.

Lance was rubbing the back of his sore head and glaring at Bruno as he approached, returning the glare tenfold. "What is the matter you Lance? Being a pervert isn't enough for you is it? You have to be a huge twat as well. Jenny is a perfectly respectful woman and should be treated as one as well, so stop harassing her and at least try to act professional, although you clearly are not. Now come, let's get back to the Plateau, we have much to discuss."

Lance, bristling in anger, took one look at Bruno's beaten up old Beetle and snickered. "I wouldn't be seen dead in that piece of shit you call a car Bruno, my Dragonite can take me there, and if you think Cynthia will succeed in getting me fired, you've got another thing coming." With that Lance grabbed a PokéBall from his belt and pressed the centre button to expand it before pressing it again to let the ball open and a large shapeless white light spring out of the contraption.

The white light formed a bipedal figure before fading so that the figure could be seen in its entirety. The creature was of a dull orange colour that covered most of his body and the outside of his wings. With three viciously sharp claws one each paw and foot, it had hard horizontal plated scales reaching from its neck all the way down its body, covering its chest and stomach, going in between his legs and coating the underside of his tail. Atop his head were a somewhat small horn in the center and two magnificent, sleek and streamlined curly horns situated above its eyes. Its massive wings, large enough to completely wrap around its body and then some, had dark green webbing coating the inside.

The dragonite roared powerfully and flexed its wings as Lance clambered up its body and settled on its shoulders just in front of its wings. He sneered at Bruno one last time before digging his heels in and yelling at Dragonite to fly. The dragonite spread its wings and lunged up into the air so suddenly that the force of its takeoff caused Bruno to take a step forward to balance himself. An ordinary man would have been floored.

Bruno shook his head and turned to his tiny car. He opened the door then attempted to slide into his seat, once settled in his knees were pressed up against the steering wheel and his head was forced down by the ceiling of the car. He pressed and held down the clutch and put the car into first before accelerating while slowly releasing the clutch; it was far too easy to stall this old car and he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of the station that his new girlfriend worked at.

As his car began chugging away down the road, he briefly saw what appeared to be a massive bright orange blur heading straight for Lance's shape in the sky. He shrugged, as much as he hated to admit it, Lance _was_ an incredibly powerful trainer; he could handle anything thrown at him, besides an insult.

Bruno's car was half way to the Plateau when Lance's lifeless body smashed into his bonnet causing the windshield to crack. Bruno barely had time to react before Dragonite's body slammed down on Lance causing the sickening sound of bones snapping and the horrible sight of blood spraying out from under the beast.

* * *

Jenny's jovial mood had somewhat lessened as she walked back to the interrogation room; after all the inquisition of a woman whose only son had recently killed thousands of people was nothing to be joyful about. She paused outside the door to straighten her hair and clothes; she didn't want to appear unprofessional to the Champion of Sinnoh after all.

When she entered the room she was greeted by a depressing sight. Two grown women held each other, one crying and the other barely holding her tears as she rubbed the others back soothingly. Finally noticing the new arrival the two women parted slowly, Cynthia gripped Mrs. Kecthum's shoulders softly and stared straight into her eyes. "I promise you Delia, I promise you I'll find the man who did this to your son, but meanwhile you mustn't lose hope; Ash could still be out there somewhere, waiting for someone to find him and take him home." Delia sniffled, rubbed her nose and sent Cynthia a weak but grateful smile.

Jenny decided not to watch, it obviously a personal matter between the two women and she didn't want to intrude. She couldn't help but overhear Cynthia's promise though. She raised an eyebrow curiously; it seemed the Champion also believed Ash was innocent, if so then Delia and her son had one of the most powerful allies they could possibly get.

Cynthia was absolutely legendary when it came to battling; it was rumoured that once Alder and Steven teamed up and faced her in double battle as a bet, she apparently didn't lose a single Pokémon. Most people generally regarded it as fact after Cynthia's famous battle with Lance a few years ago. Lance had put up a good fight; he was the world's best Dragon Tamer after all, but then Cynthia released her Garchomp. The beast defeated all three of Lance's Dragonite and the only damage it received was a graze by a Hyper Beam. Ever since that spectacular battle Cynthia was unofficially labeled as the most powerful Pokémon Trainer currently living, aside from Champion Red of course, but he hadn't come down from his mountain in almost twenty years.

Most of today's trainers had never seen Red battle and therefore believed all the stories about him to be largely exaggerated. But Jenny was one of the few who had seen him battle; she had been fourteen at the time and was quite the fan girl for the Kanto Champion. She had been present at what was now often referred to as 'The Great Slaughter'; an epic battle between all of the other nation's Champions and the Kanto Champion, Red himself.

Each of the four Champions had sent out their strongest Pokémon; Agatha, who was Johto's Champion at the time, sent out her Gengar, Drake sent out his Salamence, Bertha her Rhyperior and Caitlin, who was a hell of a lot older than she looked, sent out her Metagross. Jenny, along with everyone else at the stadium, had been absolutely shocked when Red sent out not four Pokémon to counter his four opponents, but only one; his absolutely massive Charizard.

What followed was what Jenny could only describe as massacre of the other Champions' Pokémon. Red's Charizard had actually melted one of Metagross's arms off, Gengar had literally been evaporated, Rhyperior was missing several of its chest plates along with its horn and tail; all having been severed by Charizard's Slash and Steel Wing attacks. Lastly, Salamence had been missing both of its wings and one eye.

The Champions, shocked by Charizard's strength and brutality, had immediately forfeited the match before rushing their Pokémon to the Centre. What was most shocking about the whole event was that Charizard wasn't even Red's strongest Pokémon; that title lay with the creature that was ever-present on Red's shoulder. A Pikachu that no-one had ever seen in battle except for the previous Kanto Champion, who had lost a Pokémon in that battle.

When asked why he never used Pikachu in battle, Red replied that he didn't want the burden of another dead Pokémon on his or Pikachu's hands. As for why Red never had his training license revoked and wasn't imprisoned for killing a Pokémon; the previous Kanto Champion maintained that it was his own fault that his Pokémon died, he said that in his blind refusal to lose his title he had not noticed that his Pokémon was grievously wounded. Red had been about to forfeit the match for fear that Pikachu would kill the Champion's ace, but then the Champion had ordered his Pokémon to use Explosion.

The Champion's Pokémon, too tired to conjure up the standard aura shield that usually wrapped the Pokémon in a protective shell that would prevent it from literally exploding... literally exploded... It was said that after the cloud of dust and blood mist had cleared, there wasn't much left aside from a rocky heart and a fleshy eye. Perhaps the most disturbing part of it all was that the Champion's ace was a Golem, a ground type and immune to electricity. It had been rumoured that Red's Pikachu could defeat all of his other Pokémon simultaneously and without receiving a scratch.

Jenny realized with a start that Delia and Cynthia were no longer embracing and that the latter of the women was asking her a question. She blushed in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry Miss Lawson, could you repeat that?" Cynthia smiled gently at her, easing her nerves. "I was just asking if you could fetch Mrs. Ketchum and I some tissues; we can't have a civil conversation with runny noses now can we?" Jenny grinned as she pulled out some tissues from her breast pocket; as Chief Investigator she often had to deal with very emotional people, be it a witness, suspect or a tearful young trainer who couldn't find their Pokémon, so she always had a few spare tissues on her person.

She handed the tissues to the two women who then proceeded to wipe their eyes and blow their noses. Cynthia once again turned to Jenny. "To bring you up to speed, me and Mrs. Ketchum were discussing her son's childhood and listing any close friends of his who could help us with any information about the man at all. So far only Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City and Gary Oak of Pallet Town were mentioned."

Cynthia turned back to Delia. "Ash travelled Johto, Hoenn and Unova did he not? Who travelled with him during those journeys?" Delia, now composed, decided to tell Cynthia the truth. "Misty continued traveled with Ash during his trip around the Orange Archipelago, Brock had temporarily left but the two met a Pokémon Watcher by the name Tracey Sketchit during their trip. Ash and Tracey became very close during their trip together and he could certainly help with any questions you may have. Currently he resides in Professor Oak's Lab in Pallet with Gary, but if he's not there you might find him at Misty's house in Cerulean."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said Misty only had eyes for Ash? Did she get fed up of waiting?" Delia chuckled. "No no not at all, I don't think Misty will ever give up on Ash." Delia's smile turned upside down. "At least, before that day she wouldn't have…"

Delia shook her head and decided to focus before she began crying again. "No, Tracey wasn't dating Misty but rather her eldest sister Daisy. Daisy hardly knows Ash so she wouldn't be able to help you. As for Ash's other journeys, Brock returned after the Orange Archipelago trip and Tracey decided to stay in Pallet and study with Professor Oak. Ash travelled around Johto with both Brock and Misty, but after the Silver Conference both Misty and Brock were forced to return to their respective homes. Their leaving hurt Ash deeply but I think Misty was hurt the most; by that stage her little 'crush' on Ash had begun to develop into something a little more permanent."

Cynthia chuckled before asking curiously. "You seem to know a lot about Misty and Ash's relationship during their journey, how come?" Delia smiled widely at this. "I could tell from the moment Misty walked through my front door that she was attracted to my son, hell everybody could see it except for my son." Delia sighed. "It seemed that Ash inherited his obliviousness towards romance from his father." Delia smiled wistfully as she recalled the trouble she went through trying to get Ash's father's attention. Delia blushed; back then she hadn't thought it would take a skinny-dip to succeed.

Cynthia, while finding Delia's reflecting heartwarming, interrupted the woman's daydreams as she asked her next question. "So Ash traveled around Hoenn alone then?" Delia once again sighed. "No, in fact on his first day he made a new travelling companion; a beautiful young girl named May, you may have heard of her; I hear she's quite a successful Pokémon Coordinator now." Cynthia nodded, she had. "Ash and May made their way back to May's hometown, Petalburg City, where I believe she is currently residing. Ash met with May's parents and little brother, he learnt that May's dad, Norman, was the Gym Leader of the city, he still is I think. Ash set off with both May and her brother, Max, and was shortly reunited with Brock. Together the four journeyed around Hoenn before returning back to Kanto to take part in the Battle Frontier. As you already know Ash travelled around Sinnoh with Brock and Dawn but at the end of that journey Brock left permanently. Ash traveled to Unova alone but once again not for long; he met a black woman around his own age by the name of Iris and shortly afterwards was joined by one of Striation City's Gym Leaders, Cilan. He traveled Unova with those two before coming home."

Cynthia raised an eye as a thought occurred to her. "Wait, so Misty traveled with Ash through Kanto, Johto and the Orange Archipelago?" Delia nodded, confused as to why she was being asked again. "Then he traveled through Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova with May, Dawn and Iris respectively?" Delia again nodded with a growing grin on her face; she thought she knew this was heading now.

"Mrs. Ketchum perhaps your son isn't as oblivious as you think he is. He seems to have more female friends than male." Delia's grin was now spreading across her face. "I thought so too at first, and all these beautiful young women were certainly interested in my son at some point on their journeys; I could see it whenever I spoke to Ash on the vid-phone, all the girls tried very hard to make a good impression on me; they were obviously seeking my approval." Delia laughed at that. "Of course they already had it; any friend of my Ash has my immediate approval." Delia frowned suddenly. "Except Gary, I don't think I can ever forgive him for what he did to Ash when they were young."

Delia's smile returned. "Ash's obliviousness became even more apparent however as I watched all these girls continue to make a move on my son and fail spectacularly. Only Misty and Iris never gave up; I think Iris might've loved Ash as much as Misty does. Anyway Ash just kept on being his usual self, thinking every attempt at gaining his affections was just a friendly intervention. It's such a shame since Ash is such a charming gentleman and yet he isn't even trying to charm anyone, he's just being friendly and honest; if he thought a girl was beautiful he would tell her. He doesn't realise that comes across as flirting."

Cynthia blushed; Ash certainly was charming, she'd experienced that firsthand. Delia noticed Cynthia's flushing cheeks and grinned cheekily at her. "You see what I mean, and you're closer to my age than his!" Cynthia's blush deepened considerably as Delia giggled and Jenny's eyes widened in shock.

* * *

**That's all I have for now. **

**I must warn you, I am currently studying 1st Year Engineering, so I will have very little free time in which to write any stories, the wait between chapters could span many months and I apologise for that.**

**Anyway thanks for taking the time to read this and please, constructively criticise.**


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